Platts - Thursday, November 20, 2003
http://www.platts.com

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Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--19Nov2003

No evidence found reactors triggered blackout

Nuclear plants operated as designed when a major
blackout cascaded portions of the U.S. and Canada Aug.
14, a U.S.-Canadian task force reported Nov. 19. The
task force's U.S. Nuclear Working Group said it found no
evidence that the power reactors triggered the blackout
or contributed to its spread. All nine reactors that
tripped were responding to grid conditions, according
the task force's interim report. Those outages, it
added, "were triggered by automatic protection systems
for the reactors or turbine generators, not by any
manual operator actions."

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Stockholm (Nuclear News Flashes)--19Nov2003

TVO main shareholder to fund reactor

Capital equal to about 25% of the 3-billion euro cost of
the fifth reactor set to be built by Teollisuuden Voima
Oy (TVO) will be pumped into the Finnish power company
by its main shareholder, Pohjolan Voima Oy (PVO). PVO
Managing Director Timo Rajala told Platts that PVO is
putting in the money "so that the banks are satisfied,"
and TVO can more easily arrange loans for the reactor
project. About five percent of the money will come from
a loan, with the rest a direct cash payment.

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Washington (Nuclear News Flashes)--18Nov2003

EPA seeks comments on landfill disposal option

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering
allowing disposal of "low-activity" radwaste in certain
hazardous waste landfills. In an advance notice of
proposed rulemaking published Nov. 18 in the Federal
Register, the EPA said it wants public comment on
options for disposal of the so-called "low-activity"
waste. The term has yet to be defined, but refers to
waste containing low concentrations of radioactive
material. EPA is taking comments on the proposed
rulemaking until March 17, 2004. A coalition of groups,
including the Nuclear Information & Resource Service,
Sierra Club, and Public Citizen, said EPA's proposal
would deregulate radioactive waste and eliminate
requirements that the waste go to facilities
specifically licensed for radioactive materials.

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Stockholm (Nuclear News Flashes)--18Nov2003

Fortum wants financial stake in planned reactor

Fortum management wants a 25.1% stake, equal to about
400-MW, in Finland's planned fifth reactor, the company
said in a statement Nov. 18. The 1,600-MW unit will be
built by Teollisuuden Voima Oy (TVO) at its Olkiluoto
site. TVO is in final negotiations with Framatome ANP on
the unit. It's expected that Fortum's board of directors
will approve the investment by year-end. TVO is a
cooperative that produces power at cost for its owners.
As a current shareholder in TVO, Fortum has the right to
buy a stake in the new reactor. TVO Managing Director
Mauno Paavola said that when applications closed Nov. 17
for shares in the unit, there were more potential owners
than can be accommodated. Paavola said the company is
discussing how at least some of them could be allowed to
buy into the project.

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London (Platts)--18Nov2003

UK commits to keeping nuclear energy option open for the
future

The UK government denied it was letting the nuclear
energy option slip away, during a debate in the House of
Lords Monday, according to debate records published
Tuesday. Government representative Lord Davies of Oldham
said that although the lead-time for planning new
nuclear capacity was very long, the government did not
necessarily need to make decisions straight away to keep
the nuclear energy option open.

"Under the present proposals the last of our current
nuclear power stations will not cease energy production
until 2035, so we are still discussing these issues
within a realistic time-frame," said the lord. The
Labour government has pledged to keep open the option of
nuclear energy. Peers had been worried the option was
already closing down, and worried that vital skills
could be lost. The government agreed "it is important
that we pursue a strategy--as we are doing--which
guarantees that skills continue to be developed in the
nuclear industry."

This story was first published in Platts real-time news
and market reporting service European Power Alert.

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